This invention relates to cables and other elongated and pliable elements such as electric conductors and flexible pipes, which will hereinafter be called cables, and concerns their winding on to drums such as the drums of winches, winders or storage drums. It applies especially to winches for dredging, towing, hoisting, hauling, drilling and oceanographic winches, but can also apply to pliable pipes serving for the supply of oil under pressure to hydraulic devices for marine petroleum drilling, and for example to the coaxial cables of suspended submarine television cameras or to pipes for supplying public works tools from a hydraulic power centre.
In conventional winding systems the adjacent turns of each cable layer wound on a drum are not exactly contiguous, so that the turns of successive layers tend to insert themselves into the intervals existing between the turns of the immediately subjacent layers. This can result in jamming prejudicial to the durability of the cables. In particular in installations working at sea, cables of very great length, for example 1,000 meters, and thus of very high price are currently in use. When the cable is subjected to slight forces at low speeds or has to carry out an operation without particular constraint, it is strictly possible to wind the cable on to a drum without taking special precautions, and the operation is convenient. On the other hand for greater forces, that is when the cable has for example to carry out a hoisiting or hauling function or to support a tool in addition to its own weight when the cable is wound, the cable turns of the successive layers tend to insert themselves into the intervals existing between the turns of the layers immediately subjacent to them. This results in cable jamming which can be irreversible and necessitate the freeing of the cable by cutting with a blow torch in the jammed zone or can at least lead to a deterioration of the cable in the long term by successive jamming. This risk also exists for cables subjected to slight forces but the high cost of which necessitates perfect winding; this is the case especially with the winding of coaxial cables of suspended submarine television cameras.